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Epicor Standardizes on SharePoint For Portal
Epicor Software says it will ship in the fourth quarter a major update to its enterprise portal solution that uses Microsoft’s SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Portal Server as its underlying infrastructure.
The update to Epicor Portal is much more significant than its 8.2 version number indicates, according to company officials.
“We were writing our own portal before,” says James Norwood, vice president of marketing for Irvine, Calif.-based Epicor. Using Microsoft’s Share Point Portal technologies lets Epicor standardize on portal infrastructure across its entire line of products.
Epicor offers “an end-to-end suite” of industry-specific solutions for mid-sized enterprises in areas ranging from customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise service automation, to financial and supply chain management.
The integration with SharePoint will enable customers of Epicor’s Enterprise, Vantage and iScala products to construct “composite” applications combining Epicor’s .NET-based Web parts and Microsoft’s portal features. The first solutions -- called “content packs” -- to be supported will be customer self-service, CRM and supply chain, according to Scott Smith, Epicor senior manager of product marketing.
Version 8.2 will run with either SharePoint Portal Server or SharePoint Services 2003. It starts at $2,400 per server processor, according to the company. Content packs are licensed separately.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.